A Newly More Dangerous Game
by Sephiria Arks
Summary: Rainsford returns from Ship-Trap Island to New York City, alive. Once meeting up with Whitney, they go to deliver General Zaroff's letter to a Ms Anastasia Zaroff. But more comes to mind with Ms Zaroff towards Rainsford and Whitney. With each pass and play coming at them, how much harm can she bring to them? Story is base off of The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell.
1. Chapter 1

Alternate story to The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell.

The light of the morning sun hit my eyes, and I sat up immediately at once. Heart racing like a drum, I pounded out of bed and grabbed the knife that Zaroff had given to me for the use of his game. My breathing had picked up speed, and like a lion approaching its prey, I went over to the window.

Peering down, down into the hound pit, I saw there were no bones. General Zaroff was not there. He had evaded his death.

Behind me, I heard someone clapping and then I heard his laughter. Turning around, I tighten my grip on the knife, and made sure that it was pointed in the direction of his laughter.

"Well played, Rainsford, well played. If only the others were like you, and not baboons. You defeated me at my game."

"And you did not kill me in my sleep, why?"

"Why you say? Why, because it was midnight when you defeated me, Rainsford. You are a mighty competitor indeed."

Zaroff let out a heart healthy laugh, and my mouth twitched into a small frown. This man is a truly a monster in my eyes. An abomination at most.

"What do you plan to do with me now?"

"You have won the game, so you are the victor. If you wish, you may leave and come back any time that you wish. Rainsford, you are a worth hunter indeed."

"So this is the end?"

"It is, and you can do a small mission for me."

"What will that may be exactly, Zaroff?"

"I want you to deliver a message to this address in New York City. Now, you may leave. Good bye, Rainsford."

He handed me a note, left his home, and found a boat to get off the island. I had no idea on who the note I am to give too, but I will deliver it to the address. For now, I do hope that will be that last time, I will ever see that monster that goes by the name, General Zaroff.


	2. Chapter 2

I took a boat and arrived back at New York City, New York, and soon met up with Whitney. He was glad to see me alive and well, after not seeing him for a very long time, it was good to see a very friendly face. Since he was glad to have me back at his side again, he treated me to lunch.

"Where on earth have you been, Rainsford? God, I have been worried sick about you. I even reported you missing to the police."

"I fell of the yacht, and I swam to Ship-Trap Island, Whitney. I was held there for a few days, only to be part of a hunting game."

"So you were on the island to hunt creatures?"

"I was not hunting the creatures, the hunter was hunting me!"

"Dear God, I knew that there was something horrible about that island, Rainsford, I just knew it from what the crew told me. But how on earth did you survive? And who is that man that you met?"

"His name was General Zaroff. I survived by setting up multiple traps, and at final moment, was chased down to the shore and I swam in the water. That is how I escaped death."

"Thank the gods that you are still alive, Rainsford! So what are we to do now? We still have jaguar's to hunt."

"Let us give the hunt a break for a while, Whitney. After what I have experienced on that vengeful island, I do not want to hunt for a while. By god, that man was insane! And hunting down all of those sailors and innocent people, too!"

"He sure sounds horrible. So what is that letter for?"

"He is horrible, and I do not know who this letter is for. He wrote it and handed to me, and said to deliver it to this address here in New York City."

"Why that address is at the Belladonna Mansion, Rainsford! And its to the only owner too!

"And who is the owner, Whitney?

"World traveler and huntress Ms. Anastasia Zaroff, no less!"

"Did you say Zaroff? By heaven's sake, I do not hope that they are related at all!"

"There is only one way to find out, Rainsford. Is to go and deliver this note to her."

"Then let us move, Whitney. We cannot delay any much longer, I have delayed delivering this letter already."

Whitney nodded his head in agreement, and together we left the restaurant we were eating at, and headed down to the Belladonna Mansion. My heart was racing like a wild horse, as we opened the gates and walked up the long pathway to the steps of the front door. I pressed the doorbell, and I could hear muffling from the other side of the door that the person was coming.

We waited a few moments longer, then the door open up before us. I could feel my eyes grow wide, as we saw a young maybe almost adult woman before us. She black heeled boots that went a bit past her knees, brown pants tucked into her boots; a white button down shirt tucked in to her pants; and her black hair was tied into a long braid that almost could reach down to her hip, was thrown over her left shoulder. Her cheekbones weren't very high and her nose wasn't sharp-cut like the Zaroff's, and her skin was a light tone, but she almost had the face of an aristocrat.

I gulped a small bit, and I saw her eyelids slower slowly, seductively, and showed off the pale peach and light brown eye shadow. I could hear my heart beating in my ears.

"What may I do for you gentlemen?"

Her voice had a sweet, syrupy, with a hint of a bird song in it.

"I am here to deliver a note from General Zaroff of Ship-Trap Island to Ms. Anastasia Zaroff."

"That is me,I haven't heard from _**him**_ for a while."

I could almost hear her choke back the actual words that she really wanted to say.

"How well do you know General Zaroff?"

"Well enough."

Whitney made a small snorting sound, and I just gave Ms. Anastasia the handwritten letter by General Zaroff. She took it from my hand and read it for a few moments. Once she was done, she let out a small laugh. It sounded like her sweet, syrupy, bird song voice went up in the music scale.

"About time that someone defeated him at his own game. Would you gentlemen like to come inside and have a cup of coffee?"

"We would be honored, ma'am."

I looked over at Whitney, and he nodded his head. Ms. Anastasia stepped aside, and we both walked into her penthouse, gasping at the sight before us.


	3. Chapter 3

Once we had stepped inside her home, I saw the animal trophies that she had. Polar bear skin rug; two boar heads on the wall; deer horns; and an elephant tusk over the archway that led to another part of her home.

"The elephant tusk I found in the wild of Asia, and the Polar bear was a terrible mistake. Went to Antarctica and shot it since it tried to attack me, I didn't want to leave the body there so I took it with me and made it something I could remember my experience from. Never again am I going to Antarctica."

We spent the rest of the afternoon in her house, just talking and listening to each other's stories of hunt. She didn't have very many, since she has a love for animals and rather does more traveling with adventures than kill the creatures of the world.

"Well, Ms Zaroff, we both must be off. It is rather getting late, and we both must be getting off now. We bid you good bye."

"Why not stay for the weekend? It would be quite joyous to have guests again feel at home than act as someone important when I host events here. So stay, I insist."

I looked at Whitney straight in his eye, and I knew that he was an honorable man and respects people when they come to insist. He just nodded his head once, and I knew that he was thinking what is the harm for staying just for a weekend.

"Very well, Ms Zaroff, we will stay for the evening still Monday morning."

"Splendid, let me show you to your rooms so you may sleep for the night. Please, follow me."

She led us up a staircase, which reached the second floor. Whitney was shown to his room first, and soon she brought me to mine. Opening the door for me, I walked in to the hotel like room. The bed was almost queen-size with netting hanging from the tall bed post; a dresser with a porcelain-rimmed mirror sitting on it; two light blue leather chairs that sat near a ceiling-to-floor bookcase.

"Do feel comfortable Mr. Sanger Rainsford, but don't get too comfortable. Who knows what might go bump in the night."

By the time I turned around to ask her what she meant, she was gone. Good grief. That woman sure has something to her. Spunk I say, spunk. Grinning, I lean against the bedpost and let out a soft and gentle whistle. Outside the window, I heard the barking of a few dogs and I just laughed.

Removing my shoes, I landed on top of the bed and relaxed a small bit. Closing my eyes, I was soon asleep.

Sleep.

That is something that I wished could have stayed with me, but it didn't. In the next moment, I was woken up by something being shoved away from me.

"Good grief Rainsford, you were almost rottweiler food! Good thing I know their weak spot. Get up you fool, this is no time to sleep. Something is not right here."

"I'm up, Whitney. Thank you for the save."

"You are welcome. This house is exactly like the story that you told me about the General Zaroff. But different."

"Lets think about this Whitney. Maybe the rottweiler meant no harm to me, maybe it wanted a place to sleep."

"It jaws were near your throat."

I gulped at that fact, and slipped my shoes back on. We both left my room and walked down the stairs to the living room. Glancing around, it was rather dark except for the moonlight leaking through the partially closed curtains that hung over the windows.

Just as we reached the center of the living room, the lights turned on. Turning around, we saw Ms Zaroff in a long blue nightgown and her black hair down, standing right before us. With two rottweilers right behind her, both growling and showing their fangs.

"I hope you weren't planning to leave. You did say you would stay until Monday morning, did you not? Don't tell me you are going back on your promise."

"Ms Zaroff, we must know. Are you related to General Zaroff?"

She let out a deep sigh, and waved the dogs away. They both scampered off, leaving the three of us alone in the living room.

"General Zaroff, he's my father, Sanger."

Tea was poured a few minutes later, with a long silence that followed after it. I could tell that she was not pleased with the thought of being his daughter.

"Mind going into further explanation, Ms Zaroff?" 

"General Zaroff, my dad, he didn't live on the island alone before. He had Ivan with him, in the beginning since Ivan was just a child. Two years after meeting and raising Ivan, my mother's boat came to the island. She was an adventurer and loved to explore. When she heard of Ship-Trap Island, she took the chance and went there. She played his game, and during the whole game they played like they were both the cat and mouse."

"Well, I know how that feels to be like. He was the cat and I was the mouse."

"It's how he likes to play with all of his victims. But back to the story, it was the third day and he was finally near her. But she was above him, in a tree. She leapt down and the both roll down a hill. Call her insane why don't you, cause I do. Once they stopped rolling, she was on top of him and kissing him on the lips. She never met a man like him before, and he never met a woman who could act like a cat more than a mouse. They fell in love, and held a private wedding on the island. Ivan was the only witness, so it was confirmed. About two years later, I was soon born. My mother, she died when I was only ten years old, and told me to live my own life one day and to get away from my father."

"So you left, and now you are here." 

"Yes, the only reason why my mother was still living there for those twelve years was because she saw something in my father that no other woman victim of the island saw. In the end, she threw her whole life away just to be with him and that stupid island! I just can't believe that she would do that to her whole life, just to be with him. When I was given the chance to leave, I left and never went back. I told my dad where I was going to live here in New York City, and so I stayed here since. With my mother's fortune with me, I have lived a long and successful life. But it's not necessarily a happy one. I'm just missing one or two small key factors of my life. So I've done exploring and try to see if I can find it, but I've failed."

She's missing a man and children in her life. All she just wants is to be loved by someone. Nothing else. I bet she would throw her whole life away too just to have it!

The clock behind us strike two in the morning, and she stretched a small bit, looking rather tired.

"Why don't we get some sleep, and we will play some more after we have breakfast. See you two gentlemen when the sun is up and we have breakfast."

She threw a wink at us, and left quietly. My eyes followed after her, while Whitney just leaned back on the couch with a heavy sigh.

We sat there quietly for a few moments, until Whitney struck up a small conversation.

"She's trouble Rainsford, trouble. We need to leave when we have the chance." 

"Where is your honor, Whitney? We promised to stay here till Monday morning, and we are going to keep that promise. We are going to win her game, no matter what happens to the two of us."

"You've gone insane, Rainsford, insane."


	4. Chapter 4

Morning soon came, and I woke up in the bedroom that Ms Zaroff gave me. Sitting up, I ran my fingers through my hair and walked out of the bedroom. Peeking into Whitney's room, he was still asleep and I allowed him to.

Stepping down the stairs lightly, I found the large dining room where Ms Zaroff, sitting at the head of the table and simply drinking a cup of coffee. Her black hair had been pulled up to where it was sitting nearly on top of her head, but long locks hanged down and touched her shoulders; and instead of wearing brown pants and white shirt she wore a black shirt, black trench coat, black jeans with dark brown leather boots.

"Good morning, Sanger. Sit and have a bit to eat."

"Morning to you to, Ms Zaroff."

"Please, do call me Anastasia, no need to be formal with me."

Sitting down at the table, I saw all of the food that was on it. Sausage; eggs; biscuits; ham; porridge; toast; fruit of raspberries, banana's, strawberries, apples, kiwis and other sorts of fruit; bacon; eggs benedict; popover; quiche; and a variety of juices, water, and coffee. Good grief. There was enough food to feed a whole meeting of twenty-five people right here at this table.

"Please, eat whatever you believe is good to you. It's not poison, that I know. I don't plan on killing you."

Not anytime soon. I was careful on how much that I ate, and Whitney joined us minutes later and soon the three of us were eating quietly. I could see that Whitney was frightened by this as much that I was.

She is almost exactly like Zaroff here, but she plays differently with her prey.

Breakfast was soon over, and she led the two of us outside to play her game. I shivered at the thought of her game, and she let us have a three hour head start.

"Use your surroundings boys, I want to see you survive without a weapon on you."

She went back inside, and we both took off quickly. We ran for at least a good hour, and soon came to a stop. Panting, we looked at each other, and came to a lake.

"We've got to get out of here, Rainsford. God, we should have just refused when she invited us to stay with her. Death is written all over this! We must escape!"

"We will, but she will hunt us down even if we are in the city. We must win her game, if we want to leave Whitney, but lets use our minds and figure out how to survive first."

We thought of plans for the next two hours and set a bunch of traps. We made our scents barely even noticeable after jumping into the lake and got ourselves a bit filthy. Lets hope that this works quite well on trying to win.

It wasn't long before we heard the sounds of dogs barking, and I stood in the near the outer edge of our traps. Grinning at the sigh of Anastasia, I threw a small wink at her and she just laughed a small bit as cruel grin came on to her face.

A dog accidentally set off the first trap. A small ditch that was at least four deep feet, which was covered in mud, moss, slime that we found by the lake. I grinned at that trap, and it worked perfectly, since the dog was still unable to get out of since all it did was claw away at more dirt from below the edge.

"You got one dog, lets see you get the other five."

Two dogs came running they set off three branches that were down on the ground. They got stuck on the trees and I just laughed a small bit. The poor things were trapped in the trees. Now only two left.

She signaled the other two to leave, and the return back to the house. I could see her anger flaring, and she ran towards me. I took a few steps back, and she slipped on the mud pool that we made. She let out a small scream, and she soon sat up again.

I watched her get up, and Whitney soon came up next to me and tapped me on the shoulder. Turning away from her, we both took off running with her still left in the mud.

A small twinge of guilt built up in me, and I felt as though we should not have left her in the mud, but this was the time for me to feel guilty for her. Both Whitney and I have to survive this game, and win it to be free.

The day soon turned into the evening, and we were both up in a tree for the night. Stretching a small bit, we both relaxed in the tree and slept there for night. When dawn comes tomorrow morning, she will be back on the hunt for us again. And I bet that she will be angry towards the both of us for setting up the traps.

Friday evening soon became Saturday morning before we knew it. Whitney and I stayed up in the trees and did our best to stay quiet, so she wouldn't where we were exactly. I got her to laugh, and act less like a hunter during the times that Whitney and I took small breaks, to show that we still have some nerve in us. I got to know her better by asking her question, and in return she would ask me questions about myself. As the hours passed by, dark clouds grew over us and it soon rain began to pour down.

Sunday soon came, and we finally stopped being in the trees and did our best to evade her on foot. I came up with the idea to play with her dogs and create many trails that had my scent. Whitney joined in with the idea, and together we created too many trails in the mud that had our scent.

Hiding back in the trees, Anastasia soon came into our view, and I could see that murder was set into her eyes. Looking over at Whitney, he had a bit of scared looked on his face and I knew that he now feared Anastasia.

"I didn't come alone Whitney, Rainsford. I managed to get a friend here quickly. With bloodhounds."

Out from the shadows, I saw General Zaroff. He had come to the mainland and now he had joined the game! Whitney became even more scared at the sight of him; I bet right now his heart was racing like a hummingbird beating its own wings.

Bring a finger to my lips, Whitney just nodded his head at me in response. I gave him a signal to try and stay hidden, while I handle the two of them. He shook his head no at me, and I just gave him a glare to obey my order. Whitney gave in.

I watched Whitney move quietly up the tree some more only to make bird noise or two to throw them off.

"Rainsford is tricky, Anastasia. I'm sure that you can already tell."

"I've have a feeling that he will surprise us, father. Usually I don't get surprises because the men that I play with think that I hate them, and they make things simple for me to hunt them, but I really like them."

Zaroff let out a laugh, at that statement and gave her a small pat on the back.

"A woman is to never receive surprises, my dear. They need to keep their nerve, just like your mother did. You may borrow the hounds that I brought for the hunt. You know how to command them, so show them some respect and make sure that they don't die."

He soon left the area after lighting a cigarette, and was gone from our view. I could see a small amount of hurt in her eyes, and I glared at the direction of General Zaroff. For heaven's sake, he doesn't truly know his own daughter exactly.

"A truce Anastasia. I want a truce right now."

"And what truce will that be, Mr. Rainsford?"

"Let Whitney out of this, and handle me alone. No hounds or anything. Just the two of us using nature against the other."

She thought about it over for a while, and I saw the spark grow in her eyes. Her game had now changed.

"Very well, Whitney is free to go. But you stay and play with Sanger."

Whitney came down from the tree that he was in, and slowly walked past Anastasia. I could tell that he was afraid if Anastasia would go back on her word. He kept walking, while Anastasia kept her eyes on me. She waved her dogs away, and they soon went back towards her home.

Slipping down from the tree, I leaned against it and stared at her. She took a few steps forward, and I walked towards her after a bit.

"So what do you plan to do now, Rainsford? Who do you think is going to win?" 

"I don't know for sure, Anastasia. Either you or me. Only one of us can use enough nature to see who can over power the other."

My hands were in my pocket, and I felt the nice good rock in my hand. She had no idea what I had planned exactly for this.

"Very true, Rainsford. Now tell me, will you be able to survive against me?"

We were close to each other now, and I could almost feel her breath against my shirt that I half way's unbuttoned earlier today.

"Depends on what you use against me. And the same way to you."

With my free hand, I gently touched her cheek and lowered it after a second. I bet her heart was racing. With this single moment, I slammed the rock onto the side of her head and struggled with her to the ground. Angrily, I shouted at her.

"Why do this? Why play with us humans as though we are just creatures to be killed? You don't need to play this game, Anastasia! You're better then this and I know it! But you still do it why? What importance does this have for you?"

My hands were grasped tightly onto her lower arms and I pressed my right now on her stomach. She coughed a small bit, and I could see the blood running down the side of her head.

"You want to know? Fine! Just to please my dad! To show him that I am not weak, and I can look at a dying person in the face, like he can! To make him proud of me!"


	5. Chapter 5

The tears were going down her face, and I gently loosened up my grip on her. Pulling my knee off her stomach, I sat down on the ground and gently pulled her up against me. She cried for a few good minutes, until all of her tears came to an end.

"You don't need to make him proud. You left to be away from him and to keep your distance. There is no need to make him a part of your life, if you know what his true nature is, Anastasia. All you've got to do is stop playing the games that he does, and come clean with him."

She looked at me with red puffy eyes, and I gently planted a kiss onto her lips. Her arms went around my neck, and the two of us just kissed for a long while. Picking her up in my arms, I broke apart the kiss and stared at her.

"Game over, Anastasia. I win."

I quietly walked away with her in my arms, and I could feel her press her ear against my chest to listen to my heart.

"You've wasted time just playing the same game as him with people, now it's time for you to stop all of this madness. So you need to stop playing with humans as though they are toys."

"Then what can I do, if I cannot play with them?"

"Whitney and I will help you adjust to not playing with humans at all. Why don't the three of us travel and hunt unique creatures of the world?"

"Alright, I'll come along. But we have a game to finish first. It's only Sunday Sanger, not Monday."

I felt her fingernail run across my left cheek, and I grimaced at it. She back-flipped out of my arms and landed perfectly on her feet. She used her beauty against me.

"Plus, never trust a girl like me who has beauty and can lie about playing a game. The game is not over, until Monday morning. Whitney is no longer apart of this, so it is only you and me."

She ran at me, and I stood my ground. Her left leg came at me first, and easily grabbed her ankle. Within a split second, her right leg hit me in the head and I fell to the ground. I could feel her hand on my neck, and it just added a bit of pressure. For a young woman like her, she knows how to do combat really well.

I hit her hard in the stomach and forced her off of me, quickly breathing in some air. Getting up on to my feet, I took off running away from her like the devils were at my heels.

She kept on running and trying to take me down each second that she could. Our chase went on for a long while, until I fell off a high ledge. I landed on the ground that was almost thirteen feet below me harshly, and I gasped in pain.

Crawling, I pulled myself under a rock that was sticking diagonally upwards, and looked at my wound. My left leg was turning red and when I touched, I winced in pain. She forced me to run this way to where I fell and could break a limb or two. Sitting under the rock, I relaxed for a small bit and tried my best to think of a plan to win this game.

"What's the problem Sanger? Did you have a good fall?"

I heard someone rolling down the ledge and soon came to a stop. Getting out from underneath the rock, I did my best to stand and I saw Anastasia right in front of me. With a knife in her hand.

"So this is where it all ends now. You with a most likely broken leg and me approaching you ready to kill. Final words?"

She slowly approached me and placed a hand on my chest. I could hear my heart pounding in my ear, and we stared at each other. The sunlight behind us shined in her eyes, and I gently placed my hands on her face.

"I thought that you loved me, Anastasia. I've seen the way that you look at me, so why do you play this game when you know that you have to kill the one that you love? Doesn't it grow boring after a while?"

I could tell that she was thinking over what I asked her about this game, and she tightly grasped the knife in her hand. Her choice was final. She was going through with this to the very end.

She didn't realize it at all, but I had a rock clutched in my hand. We kept our eyes locked on each other, and I swung the rock hard enough on the right side of her head. She stumbled away from me, dropping the knife and collapsed to the ground.

Leaning down, I picked up the knife and dropped the rock from my hand. I could see the blood running down the right side of her face, and the anger in her eyes. She may have tricked me, but I can easily trick her. Maybe for each other, we are a good match.

Oh God, what was I thinking? How can I be falling in love with a young woman who plays a game that kills humans? But how could a young woman like her love a game that kills and could quite possibly be in love with me?

She got up from the ground, and wiped away the blood from her head even though more was coming down. I could tell that she was ready to shred my throat and drink my own blood in revenge.

"You don't have a weapon anymore, Anastasia, it's over now. I win this game."

"How do you know that you've truly won? If you've won the game, then take that knife and end me Sanger. Stab me to where I bleed or slice my throat open to where I scream for mercy and to let me live. Do it, I dare you to do so."

There was a bloody look in her eyes, and there was anger in mine. How I wish that I could kill her if my heart kept stabbing at me to not hurt her. How I wish that I were not in love with her at all. But my mind told me that if do not kill her now, she would kill me.

"What is your heart telling you?"

"Excuse me? But why are you asking that, when you should be killing?"

"Answer my question, what is your heart telling you? I want the truth, no lies Anastasia. And while you are listening for the answer from your heart, listen to me on what I have to say."

She grew quiet for a second, and her eyes immediately closed. Taking a deep breath, the words came out from me.

"What would your own mother say about this? Do you think she would want you to play this dreadful game of hunt that your father plays? Does this game make you happy and content or does it make you angry and miserable with your life? I bet that if your mother was here right now, she would want you to end this. She would want you to find someone that you can love and live a happy life with a husband and children, not a life full of bloodshed and people on the ground by your own hands. Just think, does this feel right to you at all? Is this how you want your life to be forever more?"


	6. Chapter 6

Her eyes remained closed for a long while, and I slowly approached her with caution. I knew that she could easily hit me in the chest or flip me over her own body, but I don't know how she will respond at all when she finally hears her heart answer.

"I've haven't listen to my heart in a long time, Sanger. The last time that I did truly listen to my heart, was when I was a small child when my mother was alive. She told me to live my dreams and follow a road of happiness and love. But that was all shattered when she – DO NOT MAKE ME THINK LIKE THIS!"

There was fire in her eyes as the burst open, to where I was in her view again. She lunged at me, and I jumped to my right grimacing as my leg cried out in pain. She continued to lung at me over and over again, and each time that she did I kept on trying my best to dodge her at all cost. And to not let her grab my injured leg.

The light in her eyes flicked on, and I saw that she knew I was trying hard not to let her get my left leg. My left leg finally collapsed under me, and she pinned me down soon enough. We struggled for a few seconds, until I rolled on top of her. The two of us both tired from trying to end this.

There was sweat dripping down from her face and it was mixing in with the blood that was already trickling down upon her face. I kept her pinned down for as long that I could, finally she just gave up trying to break free from my grasp.

"I've worn you down, Anastasia. You don't have much strength left inside you after struggling and fighting with me today, so give it up now. And no more lies, cheats, or whatever else you have up your sleeves. It's over. If your father can accept defeat, then so can you."

The anger that she held so long on her face and eyes slipped away from her, along with every other emotion that was inside her. It was plain to see that everything in her life gave her pain after her mother died. All of the happiness that she showed in her life was all just fake to hide the sorrow and pain inside her. I soon rolled off of her, and lay down on the ground to her left.

We stayed there on the ground, and stared up at the blue sky above us. Gently, I grasped her hand with mine and we stayed there for what seemed to be hours. No words were exchanged between the two of us, until her bird-like voice decided to shatter the silence that we held for a long time.

"You win Sanger, you have won the game. My game with you ends here, as you are the first to outlast me. With the exception of your friend Whitney of course. My days of playing with humans like my father does are now over."

Sitting up, I looked down at her and saw that she had her eyes closed now. Her mouth twitched downward into a frown, and I knew that she was going to be taking defeat rather hard on herself. Sighing, I stood up slowly and began to pull her off of the ground.

"Let us head back now, and tend to our wounds. There isn't much time before darkness falls over the both of us here. Now come on, let us move."

She helped me walk since my leg was broken, and we managed to get back to her house just as darkness loomed over us. Today had been a long day, but the night might make it seem even longer than before as a doctor came down to tend to our wounds. My leg was soon put into a cast and for Anastasia she received stitches for her head wound.

Whitney threw a few curse words at me for ending up with a broken leg in only a single day, while General Zaroff growled at Anastasia for losing this game to me. She retaliated by snapping back at him for losing against the same man only days ago. His voice died down for a while, and we all knew that he was ashamed for losing to me.

Days dreaded on into weeks that became a couple of months, and I was starting to grow insane for not being able to hunt. Anastasia and Whitney, they both seem to have noticed and have been trying to keep me distracted during the time that my leg was in a cast. General Zaroff was already gone and back to Ship-Trap Island, so it was now just the three of us here in the Belladonna Mansion.

Staring up at the ceiling one day, I thought about everything that has happened to me in my life ever since that I fell off the yacht to see where those gunshots came from. During that time, I met Ivan and General Zaroff. . . . Using the traps that I caught animals with upon General Zaroff to win his game. . . . Jumping into the waters and swim around the island to surprise Zaroff in his home. . . . . Delivering a letter to Anastasia and finding out that she is his daughter. . . . and much more.

"Rainsford!"

I shot up from my stupor state, and looked to the left of me. Whitney was right behind the couch leaning over it a bit, and I could tell from his unamused face, that he was not pleased with me at the moment.

"I've been saying your name for the past four minutes, Rainsford. Come on, today is the day that your cast comes off now. So get up off your lazy but and lets go to the kitchen. The doctor is already set up and ready to take it off now."

Getting off of the couch, I followed Whitney to the kitchen where we saw the doctor waiting for me. For the next half hour, the doctor kept on making small talk with me while removing my cast. In the end, he just shut his mouth when I barely gave him any reply at all. Finally, it was off my leg and I was free to go back and hunt again.

Two whole days past by, and everything was ready for our trip back down to the Rio de Janeiro area to hunt down the jaguars in that area again. This time, I plan to not fall off the yacht.

"So is Anastasia coming with us on this trip, Rainsford?"

"No, she said that she'll stay here and think things through before she does anything with traveling for a while. She said that she needed a bit of therapy and to clear out her mind. She promised that when we come back and see here, she'll join us on the next adventure that we have. So come on now, let us set sail and head to those jaguars. We've already lost a lot of time due to my incidents and the small adventures that we had, Whitney."

Whitney let out a laugh as he thought back to the adventure that we had near the Belladonna Mansion. I soon joined in with his laughing, as the yacht began to set sail towards Rio de Janeiro again. Laying down on the lounge chair, I stared up at the blue open sea that was set out before me and I could feel a small smile grow on my face. So far, everything was at peace right now and who knows what else will come in the future.

"Hey Rainsford?"

"Yeah, Whitney?"

"Make sure not to fall off the railing again and swim to Ship-Trap Island. Cause if you fall overboard, I will take one of the small boats and come after you."

This time I had to laugh, and Whitney just gave me a grin.

"No promises if I fall of the yacht again, Whitney, cause we don't know what the outcomes will be while we are on the seas!"


End file.
